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Experiment 3: Equilibrium of Concurrent Forces: Purpose
Experiment 3: Equilibrium of Concurrent Forces: Purpose
Apparatus
Force-Table, slotted weights
Theory
There are basically two types of quantities in physics: scalars quantities and vector quantities.
Scalars:
A scalar is a quantity, which is simply a number. Examples of scalars are: 32 ft, 10 kg, and
8.6 s.
Vectors:
A vector is a quantity, which has both a magnitude (which is just a scalar), and a
direction (which tells you which way the vector is pointing). You can think of a vector as an
arrow. In fact an arrow is the graphical symbol used for drawing a vector on paper. A chosen scale
appropriate for the drawing represents the magnitude, and the direction is given by the angle the
vector (arrow) makes with the x-axis. Its direction given by the angle it makes with the positive
x-direction, measured counterclockwise from 0 to 360.
Forces are one example of vectors. (Others are 'x' for displacement, 'v' for velocity, and 'a' for
acceleration. Still others will be discussed throughout the course of physics.)
E.g. a force P of magnitude 120 N is acting at angle q = 200 would be drawn as shown in Fig. 1.
You can check with ruler and compass that this drawing is reasonably accurate.
SCALE: y-axis
1cm = 30 N
θ = 200º
x-
axis
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Experiment 3
y
A
Ay
θ
Ax
x
Fig. 2 Vector A decomposed.
Note that the vector, A, is in boldface type but the components, Ax and Ay, are in plain face type.
There are two ways to express the vector A: 1) magnitude A, and angle q, and 2) the two
components: Ax and Ay.
From the components to the magnitude and angle: A = Ax2 + Ay2 and (2)
q = tan-1 (Ay /Ax).
Now you can apply these relations to any vector quantity in physics.
Vector Addition:
In order to add two vectors add only the components, which point in the same directions. So for
example if you want to add vector A and vector B to obtain the resultant vector, C, then you
would add the value of Ax to Bx to obtain the value of Cx and the value of Ay to By to obtain the
value of Cy.
Now vector C has its own two components denoted by Cx and Cy. Naturally these two are the
sums of the previous two components, namely: Cx = Ax + Bx and Cy = Ay + By.
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Experiment 3
You can add more than one vector the same way: The sum S of adding forces F 1, F 2, F 3,
(b) The holders each have mass. This must be taken into account when calculating the total
applied force of the masses at the ends of the strings.
(c) When all of the applied forces are in equilibrium, then the ring will remain centered around the
central pin. If there is any unbalanced force, then the ring will be pulled in that direction and the
student must then determine how much mass to add (or subtract) in order
to achieve a balance of all the forces.
string
central pin
ring
string
string
Using only two holders (the other two strings are to hang free) set one pulley at 127, and the
other at 307. Load each holder with 550 grams. After all adjustments, verify that the ring is
perfectly centered on the central pin. This is Newton's third law, namely:
F = 0.
(d) Remove 50 grams from one mass holder. Note that the ring is immediately pulled by the
heavier force (550 gms > 500 gms). This is due to the imbalance of the two forces. Therefore you
can see that when a net (unbalanced) force is present, an acceleration (i.e. motion) begins to
occur. This is Newton's second law, namely:
F = m.a.
NOTE: Grams are units of mass, not force. As such you must multiply all mass quantities by the
factor of gravity (g = 9.8 m/s2) to yield the appropriate quantity of a force. In other words, here
W = mg.
(2). Report these calculations (for S and q) on your data-sheet with an accuracy of three
significant digits.
(3) Checking the sum calculation: Set up the third pulley at the angle = q + 180 and load it
with as many grams as is the value of S. This is the opposing force OV (the equilibriant of V1 and
V2). Leave the fourth string slack. Make any adjustments and verify that the ring is perfectly
centered on the pin (see Fig. 4.). Record this observation on your data-sheet.
DO NOT PROCEED UNTIL THIS IS ACHIEVED. If you are not able to find your mistake,
CALL YOUR INSTRUCTOR.
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Experiment 3
opposing force OP of P1 and P2. Record its magnitude and angle. No calculations are
required.
(5) With all forces in equilibrium, increase the load on the equilibrant string in steps of 1 gm.
Record the smallest change that will cause the ring to move. Call this value OP. This is the error
in OP caused by friction in the pulleys.
(6) Return to the original magnitude of OP. By shifting the equilibrant-string pulley sideways,
measure and record as q the smallest change in angle q causing an observable disturbance.
F 3
Fig. 5
Lab Report
Part I Analysis
(1) Answer the following: If V1 was acting at 45 (instead of 0) and V2 at 135 (instead of 90),
would either the angle or the magnitude, or both, of their sum S change? Can you answer this
question without any calculations?
Part II Analysis
(2) From your assigned values of P1, P2, q1, and q2, calculate the components of P1 and P2, and
their sum S, displaying them in Table 1.
TABLE 1
x comp y comp
P1
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P2
S
Experiment 3
Also, calculate the magnitude and the angle of S and display them in Table 2, along with the
measured values for opposing force OV.
TABLE 2
magnitude (gm) q (º)
S (calculated)
OP (measured)
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Experiment 3
(7) Measure the magnitude of the sum S from your graph and enter it in Table 4, along with the
other two values listed.
TABLE 4
Scale: x--direction
F2 QUANTITY VALUE (gm)
F3 Smag from Calculations (4)
x--direction
S O from Experiment
F1 x--direction S from Graphical Work
Fig. 6
State clearly which one of the three values is most reliable, and why.
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